Tag Archives: Books published in May 2018

More than once I’ve proclaimed myself not to be a thriller fan on this blog, usually before going on to review one, so it may seem surprising that several of the books in the second part of May’s preview appear to have a definite thread of suspense running through them beginning with Rachel Edwards’ Darling which has cropped up frequently recently in my neck of the Twitter woods. It seems to be a spin on the old stepmother/daughter trope. Lola is unwilling to have much to do with her new stepmother who’s only been with her father for three months. Darling’s not so fond of Lola either but she is of her dad and so has to put up with his teenage daughter. Lola, it seems, has other plans. That may sound a little hackneyed but what spices this premise up a little is that Lola is white and Darling is black.

The synopsis for Melanie Finn’s The Underneath reminds me a little of Elizabeth Brundage’s All Things Cease to Appear which I enjoyed very much. A journalist and her children are left in their rented Vermont farmhouse when her husband is called away. Kay becomes convinced that something dreadful has happened in the house and enlists the help of a local man who is wrestling with his own demons just as she is with hers. ‘The Underneath is a tense, intelligent, beautifully written thriller which is also a considered exploration of violence, both personal and national, and whether it can ever be justified’ say the publishers.

Louise Levene’s Happy Little Bluebirds is set in 1940s Hollywood with recently widowed Evelyn, fresh from her mundane life in Woking. Evelyn is to help persuade an Anglo-Hungarian producer to create war propaganda but when she arrives she finds her contact has been called to Bermuda leaving her to fend for herself. ‘Happy Little Bluebirds has all the allure, glamour and intrigue of a golden age Hollywood film. Packed with meticulous historical research which is handled with a light, deft touch, Louise Levene brings her acerbic, whip-smart wit to a glittering period in recent history’ says the publishers which sounds great and I enjoyed Levene’s debut, The Following Girls, very much.

Alison Moore has quietly gained a growing following for her atmospheric novels. Her new one, Missing, is set in the Scottish Borders to where Jessie Noon has moved. Her husband walked out a year ago and she hasn’t seen her son for years, leaving her free to begin a relationship with a local man until she begins to receive messages. ‘This is a novel about communication and miscommunication and lives hanging in the balance (a child going missing, a boy in a coma, an unborn baby), occupying the fine line between life and death, between existing and not existing’ say the publishers which seems like an awful lot going on but Moore’s writing makes it well worth investigating.

Rounding off May’s new title preview is Janice Pariat’s The Nine-Chambered-Heart which sounds more like a collection of linked short stories but is billed as a novel. Nine characters tell the story of one woman’s life from their own points of view, ranging from her art teacher to the female student who comes to love her. That’s a catnip structure for me but what seals the deal is the blurb’s description of ‘gem-like chapters’ in ‘deeply intimate, luminous and fine-boned novel that explores the nature of intimacy and how each connection you make forms who you are’.

A click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis for any that take your fancy and if you’d like to catch up with part one it’s here. Paperbacks soon…

There are several juicy looking short story collections on offer in May, three of which I’m including in the first part of this preview kicking off with the excellent Curtis Sittenfeld’s You Think It, I’ll Say Itwhich explores both the ineptitude some people display in reading others and our ability to deceive ourselves, apparently. ‘Sharp and tender, funny and wise, this collection shows Sittenfeld’s knack for creating real, believable characters that spring off the page, while also skewering contemporary mores with brilliant dry wit’ say the publishers whetting my appetite further.

Sittenfeld fans will remember her brilliant depiction of a First Lady, based on Laura Bush, in American Wife which leads me neatly to Amy Bloom’s White Houses, set in 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife move into the presidential residence. Bloom’s novel explores the relationship between Lorena Hickock, the celebrated journalist who accompanied them, and Eleanor Roosevelt. ‘Filled with fascinating back-room politics, the secrets and scandals of the era, and exploring the potency of enduring love, it is an imaginative tour-de-force from a writer of extraordinary and exuberant talent’ say the publishers. That alone would pique my interest but I’m a huge fan of Bloom’s writing, from her short stories to novels like Lucky Us, so I have high hopes for this one.

Geir Gulliksen’s Story of a Marriage also puts a relationship under the microscope as a husband whose wife has fallen in love with another man after twenty years together tries to understand the disintegration of their marriage from her point-of-view. ‘Intense, erotic, dramatic, raw – Story of a Marriage examines two people’s inner lives with devastating and fearless honesty. It is a gripping but slippery narrative of obsession and deceit, of a couple striving for happiness and freedom and intimacy, but ultimately falling apart’ according to the publishers which sounds very ambitious to me but definitely worth a look.

Back to short stories for Christine Schutt’s Pure Hollywood. ‘Schutt’s sharply suspenseful and masterfully dark interior portraits of ordinary lives are shot through with surprise and, as Ottessa Moshfegh has it, “exquisitely weird writing”’ say AndOtherStories who are publishing this collection as part of their response to Kamila Shamsie’s provocation exhorting publishers to release only books by women. ‘Exquisitely weird’ could go either way for me.

I’m bookending this post with the third short story collection of the month from the late master of the craft. William Trevor’s Last Stories comprises ten pieces described by the publishers as ‘exquisite, perceptive and profound’ and for once I won’t be arguing with their superlatives. This will undoubtedly be a treat to savour for all who treasure quietly understated, elegantly lyrical prose.

That’s it for the first instalment of May’s new novels. A click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis should you wish to know more. Part two to follow at the end of the week with not a short story collection in sight.